Thursday, August 04, 2011

A very risky game

Running of the bulls as part of a festival takes place in quite a few towns in Spain - not just in Pamplona. It is a highly dangerous “game” that results in many accidents each year.

Last Saturday a man was gored and died in the village of Rafaelbunyol, north of Valencia. It was said that he was drunk at the time and was provoking the bull with a pink umbrella so maybe it could be argued that he only had himself to blame.

However, we now read that a 74 year old man, Felix de Luis Morentin was gored in the neck by a young bull whilst sitting in his holiday home. The bull had smashed through wooden fencing erected to steer the animals through the old streets of the town during the early morning runs of the annual fiesta, causing panic amongst spectators, who ran for their lives.

The agitated beast then charged into a quiet courtyard and through the wooden door where it encountered the unfortunate Mr Morentin, a resident of San Sebastian who returned to the village where he grew up each year to celebrate the annual fiesta. He apparently died instantly.

The mayor of Lodosa described the incident as a “tremendous misfortune”.

If bullfighting is now been described as out-dated and dangerous, then running with the bulls must surely be regarded as medieval and verging on suicidal. Call me a coward if you will but you would not find me within a 100km of a bull run.

No comments: